Spring Break 2005 – Italian Graffiti

Regardless of if you agree with their messages or not, this is the latest rage in graffiti on the streets of Rome. As I wandered around Rome I saw hundreds of examples of this style of political graffiti sprayed on everything from trees to trash cans to temples. It seems as if there are some people in Rome who don’t agree with the Bush administration’s policies and the war in Iraq.

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Does anyone have any idea what this graffiti was trying to say?

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Video cameras.

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I’m glad they know where to put trash in this town.

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Our favorite Marine!

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Some of these are very artistic.

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This is an advertisement. A block down the street there was an internet cafe doing a roaring business.

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I particularly like the stencil of Rumsfeld.

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Terror underfoot. Rumsfeld underfoot.

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The windup toy soldier ninjas were a nice touch.

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And with a final wink, I boarded an airplane and a short hour and a half later I found myself back in the land of couscous and harrisa. My unexpected three week vacation was just what the doctor ordered. It gave me some time to relax and unwind from the daily stresses of life in Tunisia.

When I got back to Tunisia I discovered that I had been accepted to the DAAD RISE program for the summer in Germany. I will work in Karlsruhe, Germany on the border with France in a humanoid robotics laboratory. I now know the date that I will leave Tunisia. Sometime on or around June 1st. That will have put me in Tunisia for a total of about 8 months give or take a few days. I will finish my stint at the university in Karlsruhe on the 31st of August at which point I will travel around Europe to points as of this moment unknown. I plan to return to the USA, Oregon, and Oregon State University somewhere around September 22 making it exactly one year since I last was home. I wonder how many people will recognize me when I return.